Some Days I Just Like to Shop

You know, I'm not a big shopper, not really. Sure, once in awhile I go into Target to get a new mop and wind up with $300 worth of rag rugs (because, you know, they play high-pitched sounds in there, like a dog whistle, that hypnotizes you into buying more than you planned). But as part of my job blogging for JetBlue-- poor me, I have to explore and write about all the shops/parks/theatres/restaurants in our fine city. Which means sometimes, a "workday" involves going around with my camera, meeting shop owners, and hanging out.

That's what I did last Thursday, taking along my partner/photographer, Warren (that's his blog name). We went up and down the chi-chi 2nd Street District, ate a huge lunch at FRANK (a hotdog place that's tres fancy-- I mean, as far as hotdog restaurants go). Then, at long last, we pointed the car south, crossed the bridge and-- FOR THE FIRST TIME IN GOING ON THREE YEARS TOGETHER-- I took Warren into HCW. Now, how he managed to escape such a trip for this long is beyond me. Mind you, he is well familiar with the inventory, since I am forever stash building. And when we were in France, he might point to a model-gorgeous woman, pause, and say, "Isn't that a nice scarf she's wearing?" So he knows about life with a knitter.

When we walked in, I expected him to lie down on the floor and scream, "WHY DIDN'T YOU BRING ME HERE SOONER?!!!" Alas, he was only mildly interested-- remember, all humans are flawed-- and eventually wandered over to Hey Cupcake! ("Just to look...") But since we were in shopping mode, I wandered around and took some pictures of-- yes, it's true-- still MORE new inventory. The ladies were unloading about five million skeins of Habu, but I just told you about some other Habu, so I'll hold off on back-to-back Habu-ing.

I will tell you we got in Blue Ridge Sock Yarn, which is hand painted, and comes in a two-skein pack. The idea is, you use the solid color for the cuff and toe (and heel if you want) and you use the multi-colored yarn for the rest. Pretty cool. We also got some nice sock yarn from the Great Adirondack Yarn Company, where Patti Subik has been hand dyeing yarn since 1980. And still more hand painted yarn came from Claudia Hand Painted Yarn. At her website, Claudia explains that all of her skeins are infused with Peace, Love, Comfort and Joy-- whether you like it or not.

Here's the Claudia's:

Here's the Great Adirondack:

Here's some Blue Ridge-- Note the two skein combo:

And finally, Suzanne-- who just got a manicure that left her looking like a professional hand model-- showed me the latest goodies in the accessories department. The needle organizers from Namaste are here! Namaste is an animal-friendly company-- that's faux leather on the outside of these very cool, very colorful boxes, which feature clear inside sleeves so you can really, truly, once and for all file those needles in a manner that makes sense.

Happy Shopping Y'all!